A big name on the founder’s door apparently wasn’t quite enough for grid storage startup Crosswalk, which ceased operations last month.
The company launched by McData founder Jack McDonnell started out in storage resource management (SRM) and then “redefined the term ‘180-degree turn’ when they switched not only gears, but probably the whole engine too, to chase the NAS and clustered storage and file system market crowded with established players and many other startups,” said StorageIO founder and senior analyst Greg Schulz.
“Crosswalk’s ideas and directions may have been good, and perhaps even successful at a different point in time,” said Schulz, who wondered if the company’s timing and business plan were up to the task.
The company was up against several competitors in the clustered storage space, and HP recently got into the market by acquiring PolyServe.
Still, Crosswalk had its share of fans, including a rave from Tandy Brands, which said Crosswalk’s iGrid system boosted its ERP reporting application’s performance by a factor of six and “made our problem go away.”
Crosswalk’s Web site has shut down, and a phone message at company headquarters said it has “ceased all operations.”
